A disturbing number of TikTok videos about autism include claims that are “patently false,” study finds
A disturbing number of TikTok videos about autism include claims that are “patently false,” study finds
A recent study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that a significant majority (73%) of informational videos on TikTok tagged with "#Autism" contain inaccurate or overgeneralized information about autism. Despite the prevalence of misinformation, these videos have am...
I am not disputing the fact that there is a ton of misinformation about Autism on TikTok (and the internet as a whole), because there absolutely is and it's dangerous. But it gives me pause that the researcher behind this study developed and promotes a treatment method that is essentially a cousin of ABA. That makes me incredibly skeptical of what his rubric might be for filtering the claims as factual or not.
42The writer of that psychology today article put her son in ABA, and actually endsup advocating for it (as long as the ABA therapist used a modern, child first approach.) I agree with her.
My son has been in modern ABA since he was two after his developmental pediatrician recommended it. (I have aspergers myself, as does my kid's father - both of us never required ABA as kids though I had speech therapy/saw a psychologist about my "acting out" etc) So I had no reason to be suspicious of ABA, or knew about how it used to be. However my son's experience been so positive I never considered that it might have (pretty horrible) origins or were started by a person like that.
I've seen many sessions at two different practises, and from what I've experienced, the modern version is VERY divorced from the old methods you are describing.
The place my son attends (he still goes there twice a week) they teach kids to be proud of being autistic, and to understand themselves as well as advocate for what they want using group-play based activities. Stimming and other typical ASD behaviours are not ever discouraged, though communication is (however they prefer to do it.) It's not about forcing them to act like normies. It's about giving them the tools to understand themselves and others. They also have parent classes to help understanding and acceptance of ASD behaviours, and how to advocate for your kid in school and other settings.
My son used to be basically non-verbal, he would headbutt and bite us frequently as a result of his frustrations. So had we tried putting our son in speech therapy, however we took him out of that since the methods were very repetitive and frustrating for him. It was much harsher than what he's experienced in ABA. ABA had my kid actually asking for what he wanted, didn't want, enaging in play... also the biting and headbutting us stopped. I'm not sure why seeking out some kind of therapy to help him communicate better is seen as "forcing him to conform"...
After seven years of ABA, my kid is happy as hell. He loves his therapy group and his therapists. He's still going twice a week, he's learning about online safety, multiplayer gaming (taking turns and playing as a team) and how to deal with bullies. They have a video game playing league.
It's important for people who experienced the horrific side of ABA to voice their experiences and advocate for acceptance of neurodiversity in all its forms. I in no way want to dismiss the trauma of someone who had to experience ABA the way it used to be.
But call ALL forms of modern ABA or other behavioural therapies for kids 'coersive' or 'abusive' - or to compare them to something like conversion therapy? ...I don't know even know how to describe it. But it is very, very very off base and misinformed at the very least.
I'm not going to argue, since it seems like you have a pretty strong opinion about this. (As do I)
But I wanted to put it out there that doctors tend to recommend modern ABA for a reason. Evidence-based methods matter. I recommend it myself, provided you investigate the clinic first to see what their approach is.
8As someone who grew up with a (quite) younger sibling in the most disabling end of the spectrum, witnessing all the development from infancy to adulthood, I am very reluctant to recommend for/against any specific approach, because I think that what matters most is the people who actually practice it. So, I absolutely agree with the last sentence of your comment.
The negative aspects of ABA are not entirely in the past. I am not in a position to verify the information I will quote, but this is mentioned in the third of the linked articles:
Mandell says ABA needs to renounce that history — especially the early reliance on punishments like yelling, hitting, and most controversially electroshocks, which are still used in a notorious residential school in Massachusetts called the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center.
To be clear: I am not arguing with your experience here. Rather, I am pointing out how important is the kind of practice of whatever theory and what the focus of the practice actually is. It's really very difficult to find professionals who are actually both able and willing to care properly for autistic people. At least in the place I live.
Beyond that, I have to say that there are many things that now have positive effects on people's lives that weren't exactly positive in their original forms.
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If “operant conditioning” makes you think of dog training, you’re right.
This isn't the bad part. Operant conditioning is how all behaviours are formed, if something gives a positive feeling or takes away a bad one the behaviour increases, if it adds negative feeling or takes away a positive one the behaviour decreases.
The issue with ABA is firstly trying to take a persons personhood away, teaching someone that who they are is bad, and secondly the mad schedules they impose. It might be that a person doesn't feel comfortable with eye contact, the ideal situation is we go "cool, don't do that" and everyone is just cool with it, a middle ground that is a good idea is to help the person get used to using intermittent eye contact or using little tricks like looking at someones nose or forehead. The ABA solution is we force the person to make eye contact for an hour a day, regardless of comfort, and witholding a comfort item, like a tablet, until they have completed that hour. It's treating a child (or sometimes an adult) as a non-entity, just an issue that needs to be fixed, needs to be 'normal'.
3The ABA programs Ive seen are not like this at all.
Play based therapy to teach communication is not "taking away personhood". Thats like saying enrolling a kid in speech therapy is somehow coersive or abusiveI know ABA has a horrible shitty origin, as does tge udea of intervention... and Im sure there are some people who still practise the traditional cruel methods. And i know there are loads of autistic adults who had to experience these methods.
But lots of current practise of ABA is no longer like this at all. The clinic where my son attends, for instance, they incorporated other forms of therapy, and emphasize communication and social interactions, not "appearing normal". Kids arent "corrected" for stimming or other behaviours or something like that. Kids are taught that having autism is something to be proud of, theyre also taught how to deal with bullying etc, how to play with other kids and also how to say "i need space"
My kid has been in modern aba since he was 2, at a child first style clinic, and Ive seen many sessions. I wasnt aware of ABAs origins when we enrolled him, we were just following the advice of our developmental pediatrician. But not once have I seen anything even remotely "coersive" or abusive. I wouldnt submit my kid to something like this - he loves going.
This is not to say there are not places that have these shittier approaches and negative reinforcements. But there are lots of therapists out there that do NOT teach kids to hide who they are, or force them to look someone in the eye for an hour etc. I would never force my kid to act "normal", but I do want him to have help expressing his needs and feelings.
1Permanently Deleted
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It does not “intervene” in their Autism so much as it forces them to appear more neurotypical, and a study from 2018 suggests that it actually creates PTSD symptoms in the patients
That actually explains so much about me holy shit
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I hate this fucking world. Seeing your own disability being used by neurotypical fucktardwankers for generating money by basically doing misinformation that completely ruins, what I try to do all the time because fuck me that’s why. May god forgive them. I won’t. And I don’t believe in that motherfucker either.
18Thank you for saying this.
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Pretty sure you could substitute "autism" with any topic at all and the point would be accurate.
13Oh so you mean people on the internet tell lies?
9Who looks for facts on social media?
7Many people do unfortunately.
17It’s not even about looking for facts. If you hear something enough it’ll start to sound normal, so it’s bad even if people don’t look for information on social media.
Plus, we know that people get a lot of their information from social media. Being smug about that isn’t exactly helpful.
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Only 73% I expected it to be higher.
5I had a comment on this post - was it removed for some reason?
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